Unlikable Aspects of The Model "A"

[eagle]

The narrow tires and high clearance made the A a good car for going through deep snow.

[Ron Blissit]

How many recalls did the model a have to correct all of these perceived falts

[mcgarrett]

Not sure how many in all, but the first recall was to replace hundreds of faulty generator cutouts on the early '28 models just before production really got ramped up. So the story goes, the factory was getting complaint calls about cars that were stranded due to a "no-start" condition shortly after their very first drive. As you can imagine, Henry was pretty livid about the embarrassment due to the defective parts so early into production.

[mhsprecher]

I don't disagree with many of the complaints, but my view has long been that the Model A is one of the best cars ever made. More main bearings would have been better as well as a balanced crankshaft. I am surprised at how well the A's do with transverse springs. Not state of the art, but adequate. Henry was all about low cost and low weight.

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by Synchro909

IMO, A BIG improvement would be made if Model As (and other Fords for years) didn't use those horrible transverse springs.
Then there is the way the clutch pedal gets tangled with the exhaust manifold, clamp and the top of the oil return pipe.
It has already been mentioned above that the bodies were too narrow. I second that and if they were a little wider, we could have the accelerator on the right of the brake instead of between the clutch and brake. Driving at night with a vertical windscreen and back window is a challenge. I see tail lights of the car in front of me in the rear vision mirror and headlights of on coming cars in the rear window. Driving at night on unfamiliar roads is quite a challenge.
The list goes on but looking at this sensibly, for its time and cost, the Model A was a great package that served its owner well. The shortcomings given here are from the perspective of a different generation in a different time spoken from the perspective of we who have driven cars for years that have had the advantage of decades of gradual improvement. Too gradual, I would say.

Synchro, you are too sensitive. These are only issues with RHD cars, no?

[Synchro909]

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Originally Posted by JayJay

Synchro, you are too sensitive. These are only issues with RHD cars, no?

RHD cars, Yes but Henry had been making RHD cars right through Model T years - in fact, all of his cars up to the Model T and all other American cars were RHD till he went LHD. He should have known better. Just because you are LHD, don't write off RHD.

[Lawrie]

Re Ralph Nader, He aint around any more, but the A still is,
mine is used as my everyday transport, they can't be that bad.
Lawrie

[ronn]

great list............!

as bad as everything was/is, there are still more As around then pretty much any other brand.

So Henry was brilliant regardless..........

[updraught]

It was built to go off road like the T.
https://mr4x4.com.au/heading-off-roa...-ford-model-t/

[Mulletwagon]

Gas filler in the middle of the cowl and the unsynchronized trans. However, the old Model A would not be the same without all those technical kinks, all of which make it what it is and adds to the historical progress of the automotive industry. Still a time machine !

[Bob Bidonde]

The Model A Ford is an asset that keeps on giving! I than God we have them to enjoy.

[art ebeling]

We all love our A's but in reality the Model A was an advanced design only when compared to the Model T. After years of Making the Model T cheaper instead of improving them the replacement Model A still did not compare to other cars on the market at the time. By the end of 1931 Chevrolet was nipping at Fords production numbers even though they had flaws that would create longivity problems. Henry Ford still did not think the general public needed anything more than basic transportation and that shows in all of the flaws and lack of features that have been discussed. Art

[ronn]

you are correct Art, the 31 chevy outsold the ford. However, having a 31 chevy, they hardly exist, due to all of the wood.

Try and find parts for a 31 chevy.........almost an orphan car.

[nkaminar]

The biggest mistake Ford made with the Model A was not bringing it out in 1925.

[old31]

Dont get me going on that damn little light switch at the bottom of the steering column. GEEEEEZ what a piece of crap design. Sorry Henry.

[ModelA29]

Originally Posted by Lawrie

Re Ralph Nader, He aint around any more, but the A still is,

The Corvair would still be around too - if .gov had investigated and released their report in a timely manner. Nader's entire credibility should have been lost but the press continued to consider him an automotive expert.


Corvair Exonerated! On Friday, July 21, 1972, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) - a branch of the federal government - issued a report on its two year investigation of the 1960-1963 Corvair. The report concludes: "The handling and stability performance of the 1960-1963 Corvair does not result in an abnormal potential for loss of control or rollover and it is at least as good as the performance of some contemporary vehicles, both foreign and domestic."

[ModelA29]

Originally Posted by updraught

It was built to go off road like the T.
https://mr4x4.com.au/heading-off-roa...-ford-model-t/

We call it off road today but when they were built the roads weren't much more than goat paths. I remember reading a article in a Midland MI history book about my gg grandfather taking 3 days to deliver a wagon of goods to another town and return. My mom said today that it would be a 20 minute drive.


I like the T Bums club in Oregon. They take their Model Ts into the back county and camp.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyVXQ0wn440

[ronn]

Corvairs are great cars and maybe a better bang for the buck, then an A.

they are still unwanted...........

[Model A Canuck]

Other then leg room in some body styles the model A was a great car in my opinion

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by updraught

It was built to go off road like the T.
https://mr4x4.com.au/heading-off-roa...-ford-model-t/

In 2013, a friend of mine (who no longer posts here) drove his 1913 Model T from Melbourne, Australia to Moscow unaccompanied. When he was driving through countries that had been behind the Iron Curtain under the USSR, people had never seen such a car. He said that drivers were running into each other all around him while they took pictures and video. Once he got to Moscow, he drove it to his home town in Crimea, then the Russian annexed the area and refused to recognise any Ukrainian paperwork for the car. He was stuck with a "non existent" car in a country that wasn't interested in anything he said. He left the car with a friend while he returned to Australia figure out what to do. The friend later took his car out of the garage and gave it to a museum, where it still sits today. He has lost the car but can regale us with stories about the trip for hours.